<VV> Re: Shoulder Harnesses + Philosophy, but no Corvair

[Vairtec at optonline.net]

Seth wrote:

>Generally speaking, I won't ride in a car that doesn't have seat belts. I 
>even feel a little bit naked without a shoulder harness of some kind.

I drove a Rampside from Seattle to New Jersey without any seat belts, and 
yes, "naked" is exactly how I felt.  (<-- that's it for Corvair content, 
folks!)

>I have never tested an air-bag, I hope never to try it.

My wife "tested" the airbag in her car.  It broke her eyeglasses in two and 
blew them into the back seat, and gave her so many facial bruises that for 
the next two weeks I was afraid I'd be arrested.

>I believe I also do not drive any more recklessly, knowing that I have the 
>protection afforded by the newer cars. That may not be true for everyone, 
>I realize.  Of  course, on the racetrack, at least when I am not driving 
>someone else's car, I  can drive as fast as I feel comfortable - And I do 
>suppose I feel a bit more  comfortable at the limit when I am fully 
>restrained and protected.

This is similar to a phenomenon I have observed in the open-cockpit 
oval-track ranks:  35 years ago, when full cockpit roll cages were added to 
the cars, an old veteran driver complained that "now anybody will drive the 
cars."  Time has proven him correct.  In the 60s, we averaged one fatality 
a year here in the East and there were virtually no fathers fielding cars 
for their sons.  Today, driver fatalities are unheard of and most of the 
cars are entered by daddy for sonny.  Sonny has never seen a fellow 
competitor die, and has the fearlessness of youth.  Result, more reckless 
driving, more crashes, but fewer injuries.  I have more than once suggested 
sawing the cages off the cars... not entirely in jest.

>Each person will have their own risk management level.

Over the years my views have evolved from thinking that motorcycle helmet 
laws and mandatory seat belt laws were intrusive nannyism, to now thinking 
that they are correct.  Reason:  When you bash your unhelmeted head on the 
road or plaster your unbelted body into the windshield, publicly-funded 
emergency services come to your aid.  If I'm going to pay to pick you up 
and cart you to the hospital or morgue, I get to say what you should have 
done to protect yourself.

Smitty wrote:

>One thing I wonder when I read about people putting Sebring seats in their 
>convert just so they can have a shoulder belt. (don't get me wrong.  If 
>you want them, be my guest).

I wonder about how those seats are anchored when installed in a 
Corvair.  Those integral seat belts are only as good as the floor to which 
they are mounted, and the means by which they are mounted.  With all due 
respect to those who have done it, I have yet to see a Corvair installation 
which put my mind at ease about the entire seat assembly ripping loose in a 
crash.  (<-- Bonus Corvair content!)

>The air bag that breaks your forearm against your forehead when you are 
>trying to steer around the accident using your ABS won't make you too fond 
>of those safety devices.

One of my pet peeves is automobile horns.  They should be 
outlawed.  Drivers use the horn instead of the steering and the 
brakes.  "But what happens if a child runs out into the street and you have 
no horn?" people ask me.  You use the brakes and the steering, I reply.

--Bob, socked in on a snowy morning.


Robert W. Marlow
Vairtec at optonline.net